The present invention relates to an article of footwear, such as a work shoe. In particular, the present invention relates to a piece of footwear which includes a location determining and identifying means, such as a module which interacts with portable, or hardwired, locators which are placed in known locations throughout the mine and which are used to periodically update the location of the footwear, together with means for selectively activating an alarm signal encoded with location and identification data, whereby the wearer of such footwear can selectively send out a distress, or “find me” signal to monitoring personnel.
Underground mines, which are characterized by their tough working conditions and hazardous environments, require a fool-proof mine-wide communication system to provide for the smooth functioning of mine operations and to provide communications means to be employed between miners underground and personnel on the surface in order to provide for the safety of the underground miners. Existing systems based on hard-wired communication systems are unable to withstand the very disaster conditions which endanger miners who may be trapped due to a cave-in or other action which traps miners and simultaneously cuts any wired lines. Mine topology and the complexity of mine tunnels and structures further hinds the survivability of hard-wired line communications systems.
While numerous disasters, wherein miners have been trapped underground, often with tragic consequences, have been reported, no known means for locating miners trapped underground, other than the boring of holes, often without positive results, is generally utilized.
In part, the failure to provide a means for locating miners trapped underground has been a problem with finding a technology which can work in the hostile underground environment of mines in which radio signals do not, generally, propagate well. Yet another problem which exists, but which is often unmentioned, in providing apparatus able to locate miners has been the reluctance on the part of miners, themselves, to use a system which permits their every move to be tracked and followed, and which thereby instills in them a feeling that they are under constant watch, even when carrying out their normal work duties.
Thus, while the West Virginia legislature unanimously passed legislation in January 2006 requiring miners to wear tracking devices and to carry wireless emergency communications equipment when working underground, as a legislative response to the deaths of fourteen miners in two separate incidents in the first three weeks of that year, the legislation included a provision to protect miners' privacy while they are wearing wireless tracking devices, by prohibiting the firing of or discrimination against any miner whose location is being tracked during non-emergency monitoring.
Similarly, there have been attempts at federal legislation to improve miners' safety by providing means for tracking the location of underground miners, so that swift emergency response can be provided in the event of a mining disaster.
As noted, there are two primary problems in providing devices which can enable the location of miners trapped underground. The first is one of technology, while the second is one involving the reluctance of miners to be tracked, unless they are actually in danger.